Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Those whose tastes are broader than mine may fancy a trip to Bingley in August for Bingley Music Live 2014 over the Bank Holiday weekend (Aug. 23-25) The Pet Shop Boys are the headliners.http://www.bingleymusiclive.com/Lance.

The Jazz Café’s upstairs
performance space hosted Jazz North East’s monthly Schmazz night. Michelson
Morley made the journey from Bristol
for this, their first date of a nationwide tour. Band leader Jake McMurchie
brought with him the just released CD - Aether
Drift - which was to prove a popular purchase on the night.

The Journal - Tyneside's morning newspaper which appears on the news-stands about ten minutes before Tyneside's evening paper, the Chronicle - features a column interview with the iconic African, American, Jamaican Geordie bass trombonist, percussionist Hannabiell. The leader of Midnight Blue talks about her ipod playlist citing tracks by Bill Frisell, Trombone Shorty, Fred Wesley as well as a couple of selfie tracks.

In other news - away from Culture - the Jazz Esquire's lunchtime stint at the Black Horse, Monkseaton, finishes today and next Wednesday they return to their old stomping ground, The Porthole by North Shields' ferry landing (1pm May 7.)

Not certain as to what's happening with the Friday session by Rendezvous Jazz at the Black Horse...
Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club have had to cancel the June 7 session owing to problems with the venue. They hope to re-book the New Century Ragtime Orchestra at a later date.

The cherry tree on the terrace was in full
blossom with all the sweet pink icing flowing down. Inside the restaurant
things were also blossoming, but with no danger of cakes being left out in the
rain or recipes forgotten. In fact the food was terrific with a delicate cheese
soufflé followed by perfectly cooked Thai flavoured halibut. The Paul Edis Trio
was in great form too, playing a constantly exciting selection of Evans, Monk,
Basie, classical, Jobim, Tatum, show tunes and audience requests.

Funkallero
got things going, followed by Gershwin's Our Love is Here to Stay and then Stomping at the Savoy and Someone
to Watch Over Me. All played beautifully with rippling piano solos and
solid support and plenty of nice creative touches from the drums and bass.

Many jazz artists have paid homage to popular
music Herbie Hancock’s River - The Joni
Letters (Joni Mitchell) and Bill
Frisell ‘s All We Are Saying a John
Lennon tribute are just two that spring
to mind. To this growing cannon of work a most unlikely contender can be added.
Pierrick Pédron’s previous album Kubic’s
Monk was a tribute to the great
Thelonious, his latest album Kubic’s Cure is a
tribute to 80’s goth rock icons The Cure. I must confess to being
a big fan of Robert Smith’s legendary band so it is not without
prejudice that I come to this album .

After 10 years I finally did it – I finally found Jason a
proper, bona fide management team – and boy have they been busy! Please welcome
Karl, Steven and Chris from Melbury House Music, Giles from On The Rocks Music
along with our new, fabulous and very well connected ‘pluggers’ Dylan and Neil.

With the fantastic backing of these industry professionals,
we are releasing our first ever self-produced single, which is an upbeat cover
of ‘Too Marvellous For Words’. As it will also be available as a physical CD
and limited edition vinyl, you get Mr Bojangles as a bonus B side.

With a provisional release date of May 11, both are now
available for pre-order at iTunes and Amazon at a set price of just £1.29 (click here).
And once again we need your support. If everyone we know gets 4 others to buy
it we are assured of chart movement. Let’s put the sophisticated face of Newcastle in the
spotlight for a change.

More from those swinging Swedes The Real Group - this time a Basie Medley. And another version of Pass Me The Jazz. Thanks again Colin for introducing me to this fantastic group - Lambert, Hendricks, Ross, Man Tran. now shooting for second place!

The weekend’s finale featured the
Al Wood Nine. Multi instrumentalist Al Wood(trumpet, flugelhorn, alto & soprano saxophones) always puts on
a good show. Bebop Spoken Here last heard him at the Cluny
in Newcastle, for this Darlington
engagement the veteran Yorkshireman brought his A-team with him.

The evening session (the
Darlington Jazz Club showcase) saw the transformation of the marquee. A few
tables were moved around, the chandeliers dusted, beer supplies checked, stage
reset. Tutors Ian Robinson (trumpet)
and Chris Hibbard rounded up their young charges for a concert performance by
the Little Big Band. Described as
the Darlington and Durham Big Band, it is the
feeder band from which the young musicians will, in due course, progress to the
Durham County Youth Big Band.

A key component of the Darlington
Jazz Festival is the community involvement of musicians, tutors, volunteer
workers and audience (in some cases they are all of these things). This year Matt Roberts (trumpet) acted as the
festival’s Jazz Educator in Residence. A local lad made good, it is wonderful
to see Roberts return and as they say, ‘put something back’.

Djangologie. Is there anything left to say about bassist Mick Shoulder’s Hot Club combo? Low maintenance virtuosi. Professional, on stage bang on time, the musicianship exemplary. A beer tent crowd can be problematic -ie noisy. In no time the band had them (Djangologists or not) listening to every nuanced turn. Minor Swing, Shoulder’s waltz Beautiful Till 3, one tune after another, all enthralling, totally engrossing.

Noon in the marquee. The bar open
(White Boar Bitter), the Tyne Valley Big
Band, all six million of them, on stage ready to go but not before Jazz in
My Pants marched in to once more give it a blast. Fantastic. Dave Hignett, the TVBB’s MD, has knocked into shape a cracking band in next to no
time. Resplendent in band t-shirts and matching music stands (all six million
of them) the orchestra presented a programme ranging from Sweet Georgia Brown to Sway
and Mack the Knife (featuring
vocalist Barbra Hignett) to Sammy Nestico’s Lonely
Street (alto solo from Kelly Rose)
to the Pink Panther Theme (hear that triangle!). Our expert triangularist
marched New Orleans’
style around the marquee, taking the opportunity on the way to order a pint
from the bar at the back of the room without missing a beat! At this point it
should be noted that the TVBB enjoys
a ‘working relationship’ with the Wylam Brewery but on this occasion it was a
case of ‘needs must’. Alistair Lord
played the high register stuff in the trumpet section, Andrea DeVere took the big tenor parts and singer Barbra Hignett
returned to belt out R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
Respect to BH! The TVBB left us with a cookin’ Apple Honey (DeVere solo, rhythm
section, ensemble). If anyone had been in a Sunday morning stupour they would
certainly have been woken up by the Tyne
Valley Big Band.

On the last day of the 2014
Darlington Jazz Festival musicians, event organisers and fans decamped from HQ
(The Forum Music Centre) with all departures for the Head of Steam on North Road. The
organisers’ team of volunteers worked non-stop to ensure the site at Darlington
Railway Museum would be ready to welcome hundreds of visitors from 11:00 in the
morning ‘til late at night. Drizzle greeted the early arrivals alighting the
Darlington Jazz Festival Express. The red beans and rice catering outlet (aka
the burger van) parked up at the entrance to the grounds of the old station, the
main performance space a deluxe marquee and as a bonus festival goers gained
free entry to the Head of Steam Museum!

Monday, April 28, 2014

A pint of White Boar Bitter (the Forum’s house beer), a chance to check-out
guitarist Tom Stephenson’s set in
the bar, a bit crack, then back to the hall for the main event of the evening.

Darlington Jazz Festival can be
proud to have secured the services of world class trombonist Mark Nightingale. A virtuoso musician,
his concert performance exceeded the highest of expectations and throughout his
stay the British born star made himself readily available to all, no airs and graces,
down to earth, approachable, happy to sign a CD cover, have a chat and sit-in
at the late night jam session. In concert (the hall standing room only)
Nightingale worked with the magnificent Durham
Alumni Big Band.

This year’s Darlington Jazz
Festival, the third, incorporated a new, additional venue across town at the
Head of Steam (DarlingtonRailwayMuseum).
Gigs at the Forum Music Centre on Borough
Road have become an established part of the
region’s jazz scene - the venue hosted an eve of festival workshop and a full
day of jazz - and the opportunity to showcase the music at other venues showed
commendable ambition.

Trumpeter Matt Roberts led a Thursday evening workshop, participants ranging
from pre-teens to sprightly octogenarians, and the results of their efforts
would be heard on Sunday afternoon at the RailwayMuseum.

Saturday, the first full day of
action, got underway at one o’clock with an array of the musicians of tomorrow
on stage in the main hall. DurhamCounty Youth Big Band (MD Shaune Eland) don’t
do things by half. A quick head count mustered something like seven reeds, six
trombones, six trumpets and a rhythm section of piano, guitar, bass and drums. All
did themselves proud during a varied programme (Mercy, Mercy, Mercy and Cantaloupe
Island to name but two). Matt Roberts joined the ensemble on flugel on the
latter number. The weekend’s big draw - Mark Nightingale - took time out to
listen to the band (the trombones passed with flying colours) then suggested he
join them on his own composition Carnifest!
An occasion none of those present will ever forget.

Vasy crops up so frequently on this site that I no longer have to name check the spelling! The recent Wind Machine gigs at The Bridge Hotel, Newcastle and St. Cuthbert's Centre, Crook, created a lot of favourable waves and although the personnel, with the exception of Mr X, is totally different the tunes are the same i.e. swinging small group arrangements of big band classics.

The trio set the ball rolling with Alone Together and There is no Greater Love (is there a greater standard that conveys the love between two people?) Zoe gave us Wave and a new piece in her bass/vcl repertoire - Nick Cave's Red Right Hand. Very dark.. Zoe did some of her individualistic vocalesing on the old bebop anthem Now's The Time before the trio said That's All.

The Jazz Café had an air of vibrancy about it tonight. Seats were at a premium and the noise levels were high. However, an early arrival, meant we had the most comfortable seats in the room and, with the chatterers behind us, were able to wallow in the music.

And it was worth wallowing - particularly with a bottle of Workie Ticket to add to the ambience.

This album
offers us a “Glimpse of Jazz’s Future” featuring six original compositions by
bassist/composer Michael Feinberg (who also leads The Elvin Jones Project in the
U.S.) played by an up and coming group of young musicians on the New York scene.

If Virgil had
been at Crook last night, he’d have hated the rat-grey, mizzly weather but he’d
never have penned that line about fearing the Greeks even when bearing gifts!
Aided by two “local heroes” (his words, not mine) and by two top-class
London-based colleagues, Vasilis brought his considerable gifts (and chirpy,
Mediterranean charm) and took Crook by storm, not by stealth.

Montreal looks good this June/July. Just check out the program for the 35th International Jazz Festival. Literally something for everyone across the genres unlike most European festivals who, by and large, tend to concentrate on either the ancient or the modern with only a token representation of the wonderful music in between.

Not so in Montreal! They've got all the bases (or basses) covered.

Tickets go on sale today (April 26) at Noon EDT which is about 5pm in the UK.

Friday, April 25, 2014

General Director Anthony Sargent CBE announces he’ll
stand down in early 2015 after venue’s 10th birthday

Anthony Sargent has announced that he will stand down
after 15 years as General Director in April 2015, following the venue’s 10th
Birthday in December 2014.

In addition, Katherine Zeserson, who has been Director of
Learning and Participation at the venue since 2002, has said she will also be
moving on in early 2015.

Anthony Sargent, who was awarded the CBE in July 2013 and
also currently chairs the International Society of Performing Arts based in New York, said:

“Sage Gateshead has been
the longest chapter of my life I’ve ever committed to a single project. It’s
been an enormously fulfilling 15 years, and I’m proud beyond words of the
extraordinary team of staff, musicians and board colleagues whose achievements
have together given Sage Gateshead such an internationally acclaimed first
decade. Working with them has been a daily inspiration, seeing Sage Gateshead
now so vividly established as one of the international triumphs of a region
with so much cultural success to be proud of. I’m looking forward very much to
our 10th Birthday celebrations, and then to seeing all the new developments and
triumphs of Sage Gateshead’s second decade building on the foundations we’ve
established so far”

Mammatus, the opening
track of five on Taupe’s eponymous release, begins with a
guess-where-this-is-going series of bass-end notes from Mike Parr-Burman’s
guitar. Drummer Adam Stapleford hides a crunching snare under a canopy of
splashing cymbals as Jamie Stockbridge’s alto emerges from the dense
undergrowth blinking into the daylight, an insistent riff taking command. Carnival’s Quarrel takes a tightly loose guitar intro into a
rasping alto blowout, Coupling
requires a First Degree in Counting such is its quirky time signature!
Clattering drums and Salt Peanuts-like
tooting suggest an element of fun is present in the trio’s collective thinking.

(From the Cluny website)."Often seen on the streets of Newcastle, Brassy B are a
unique new addition to the North East scene with their trendy horns and tasty
beats.

Their self-titled début EP,
recorded at Loft Studios, is a rare mix of brassy jazz with hints of hip hop,
dub, disco and funk complete with a range of original tunes as well as a
brassed up version of Paul Simon’s ‘50 Ways To Leave Your Lover’.

It may not have been the line-up in the Jazz North East brochure but, after hearing the opening bars of Four Brothers, I said, "This will do for me!"

A blind person could be excused for thinking he was hearing the Woody Herman saxes whilst sighted persons were marvelling at how 5 could sound like 16! Honestly, if they'd packed up and gone home after that storming opener I would have still felt I'd got my money's worth! 12 hours later the tune is still running through my head!

Thursday, April 24, 2014

The first time I heard Vasy was at the Side Café. I was with my buddy Jim McDowell and we were both knocked out by the best Grecian tenor playing we'd ever heard. Jim would have loved to be going to tonight's session but, sadly, he is no longer with us - it was his funeral this morning.

A tasteful service with Erroll Garner playing Misty as we arrived and Ella singing Every Time We Say Goodbye as we left. In between I fumbled my way through a eulogy to my old buddy.

Tonight will have special memories for me. For others it will be a chance to hear some beautifully played jazz.

Katherine Stone’s a versatile singer capable of covering several
genres. She has appeared at AJC several times and, on this occasion, much of her material
will be drawn from the Great American Songbook.As well as teaching music at a local
high school, Katherine has just returned from a successful stint with the
resident trio on the cruise ship MS Amsterdam.

The concert starts at 8
pm on Wednesday May 7 - £5 on the
door.

The
Elephant Public House on Newbiggin
Rd, which is where the jazz club started some 33 years ago, plays host to the club on the first Wednesday of every month . All styles of jazz have been featured over the years ranging from New Orleans to West Coast and beyond. Organizer John Taylor is currently putting
together the clubs autumn programme. He hopes to book a mix of artists
including a seventeen piece big band.

The Gregory Porter name on the sleeve should be enough to have the fans scuttling to their nearest Amazon. The discovery that the great man only flies solo on three numbers may halt them in their tracks but it shouldn't. Even if Mr Porter had bought a ticket for Austria, and ended up in Crewe this would still be an important disc - not least because it brings Mansur Scott and Donald Smith to a wider public.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Despite our near blanket coverage of the recent Gateshead International Jazz Festival held at Sage Gateshead earlier this month, it has been brought to my attention that we, somehow or other, missed out on Courtney Pine - one of the mega attractions of the festival.

In an attempt to remedy this, if any of our readers were at the gig and would like to submit a belated review it would be most appreciated.

The Victoria on Whitley Road is a big roadhouse of a pub.
Chelsea’s
European adventure occupied the many plasma screens, a range of ‘popular’
(non-real ale) beers occupied the bar, sophisticated locals drinking brand
lager from flower vases. A buskers’ night delayed by the football (FT 0-0), the
jazz cats were at it, undisturbed, in the upstairs room.

Sage
Gateshead is hosting its second annual
festival - ‘Everyone Deserves Music’- aimed at everyone interested in the value
of music in our lives.

Teachers, musicians,
music practitioners and music organisations will descend on the international
music centre from April to hear from inspirational cultural leaders as well as
performances from music degree students studying at the venue. The festival is
being run in partnership with Sound Sense – the UK professional association
promoting community music and supporting community musicians.

Easter Monday,
sunshine, Metro to the coast packed (buckets and spades, screaming tots,
tattoos, harmless pit-bulls). A nice day to sit on the prom and watch the
disembarked disport themselves. To more pressing matters…an afternoon of jazz
in the Crescent Club. The club, like the train, packed, standing room only.

Jazz Messengers
were to be heard across the Tyne on Easter
Day. Down river at the Bridge Hotel, Messenger Pete Gilligan preached the
Gospel of Silver (H.Silver), up river Alter Ego the torch bearers for Blakey
(A.Blakey). Two cracking bop outfits a matter of three or four miles apart on
the same night - an impossible choice. Why Blaydon? No reason, one was sure to
be as good as the other.

The tables weren't empty, the dance floor wasn't deserted and Paul Skerritt didn't sing Learnin' The Blues although he did croon plenty other classics from the Sinatra Songbook.

Like the opener, I've Got You Under my Skin followed by Witchcraft. I don't know if the chef dabbles in the occult but my opener of Pan seared breast of wood pigeon, raspberry vinaigrette and baby salad certainly had the edge on Eye of Newt - out of this world (as indeed was the unfortunate wood pigeon.). The Way You Look Tonight, If I Had You, My Funny Valentine, Fly me to the Moon, Ain't no Sunshine, I Get a Kick Out of You and Let There be Love. A line from this latter number could have been, Let there be char-grilled bistro rump, peppercorn butter, traditional steak garnish and, of course, fries.

Zoe's interview with Peter Gilligan gave us a foresight of what to expect and we got it - in spades! It would be easy to say that you can't go wrong with the music of Horace Silver and you can't - providing you can play in the first place. These guys can play!

Diamond People indeed! Wilms and his cohorts are just some of the many New York musicians (and likewise the many talented and creative musicians in this country) whose names may be lost mid-Atlantic were it not for sites such as ourselves.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Z: Tell us a bit about your band. How it formed? band line
up and their influences?

P: The Music of Horace Silver band was formed following
chats between Paul, Don and Myself about the prolific, brilliant composer that
is Horace Silver. Prompted even further by the (inaccurate) reports of his
death, we decided it would be cool to form a quintet and learn, play, attempt a
selection of his music.

Good Friday, Bad Friday, Any Friday "The Toon" is overrun with packs of hunters and predators roaming the streets in search of watering holes and mating opportunities. Those hoping to score for something more stimulating may have been drawn to Hoochie Coochie who were advertising Burundanga Free!

Friday, April 18, 2014

I can still remember the
excitement as a teenager of hearing the Mahavishnu Orchestra's album the Inner Mounting Flame for the first
time. Obviously the speed of playing was staggering but so also was the fusion
of jazz and rock and Eastern and Indian influences. And then there were some
really weird, but memorable, time signatures. We knew about John McLaughlin
from his recordings with Miles Davis, particularly Bitches Brew, but this was something else. The album was much
playedover the following months.
Even now when some of us from those days meet up, a few MO tracks are usually
played again.

Yolanda Duke grew up in New York City and she has
performed in venues around the world with the Tito Puente Latin Jazz
Orchestra. She is experienced in singing
Latin jazz, merengue, ballads, bossa nova, salsa and bolero, and this is her
latest CD. I’m no expert in those
different styles but I know a good CD when I hear it, and this is certainly
tops.

In contrast to last month's "select audience" this time round the joint was jumpin'. Of course it was Easter Eve which is as good an excuse as any to get bladdered - the Hoochie slogan "Every true music believer now has their church" certainly rung true tonight.

A crowd
funding campaign helped fund the making of Led Bib’s new release. The Mercury
Prize nominated quintet have rewarded those who donated to the project with a
recording embracing the familiar groove and newer chilled-out elements. Altoist
Chris Williams’ own tune New Teles
opens the album and it is the composer who sets the pace.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

We're often approached after gigs by people saying
"You should do a version of 'this' tune" or "I'd love to hear
you play 'that' tune" etc, so to mark the band's first CD launch, we want
you to nominate a piece of music you'd like to hear us play.

The suggestion we like the most will be played at the
gig, the person that nominates it will win our CD, 'High On Life', plus free
entry for them and a guest to the gig itself.

Those of us who were knocked out by Fred Wesley and the JB Horns when they played Hoochie last year will like these photos and comments by our man in Hong Kong after members of the band jammed at Ned's.

Great night at Ned’s with Fred Wesley and Ernie Field on
tenor sax, who played one set with us, Fred is 71 and Ernie Field Jnr is 81. As many of you will probably know his father had his own big band and made a few albums. Some great
stories from Ernie of when he was with the Hampton Big Band, nice guys and they really
enjoyed themselves.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

We are honoured to announce the appearance of Chaka Khan
& Incognito @ Hoochie Coochie on May 17. Chaka Khan has sold 200 million
records & won 10 Grammy's . This is a once in a lifetime gig to see her up
close with 249 other people. Any profit from the gig will be donated to The
Chaka Khan Foundation which helps women & children. Tickets will not last
long. - Warren.

Ms Goudinaki hails from Greece and this is her debut
album. She was trained in classical
guitar but she felt inspired to sing jazz, and she is making a name for herself
in and around New York. The CD includes standards, Almost Like Being In Love; I’ll Be Seeing
You; Fine And Mellow; My Heart Stood Still; A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley
Square; Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea;, two originals by Ms
Goudini Bird Of Paradise; I Wanna Be Your
Star; and another two tracks Just
Friends and an instrumental Milonga.

Just received the sad news that my dear friend and fellow jazz fan Jim McDowell passed away this morning. We'd known each other for over 50 years and when I got married Jimmy was my best man. In the photo Jimmy is at the piano and we had a jam as we waited for the taxi to take us to the church. I remember we were playing Sir Charles Thompson's Robbin's Nest (probably rather badly!).

Over the years Jim and I attended many jazz gigs and concerts at Newcastle City Hall, Corner House, Side Café, Bridge, Sage etc. and there was also a memorable trip to Leeds to see Dave Brubeck.

We shared an interest in cycling and had several Sunday bike rides. Until fairly recently Jimmy was a regular at the Splinter at the Bridge sessions until Parkinson's Disease limited his mobility.

After my wedding Jimmy and Marlene's bridesmaid, Valerie, got together and they too married and the friendship between the four of us continued to this very day augmented by their daughter Jane.

It is to Valerie and Jane that our sympathies go out to and the memories we all shared.

(Review by Lance/Photo of Fiona and Stuart Finden courtesy of Mike Tilley.)

The trio got things off to a good start with Horace Silver's St. Vitus Dance - a prequel to Sunday's Silver tribute session at the Bridge by Gilligan and co - book your seat now! I Fall in Love Too Easily, Alice in Wonderland and My Romance, taken at a most unromantic tempo, set the scene for the jammers waiting in the wings.

Good news! Pink Lane Jazz Co-op at The Globe is going ahead.
It will be the first freehold music venue in the UK to be owned by its members.We've raised the
money we needed to get started and we've instructed our solicitor to proceed
with the purchase. We’ll post more details when the sale is completed.We’d like to say a
huge thank you to all the people who have invested in this exciting venture and
to those who have helped to promote and publicise it. Our community share issue
exceeded our target. We don’t know the exact sum invested yet because there are
still cheques arriving in the post. We’ll give you an accurate figure in the
next couple of days. Thank you all.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Sunday afternoons at the Tyne Bar
are invariably busy with regulars eager to hear some blues. This week the Maling Street hostelry
almost burst at the seams. Three deep at the bar (Wylam beers occupying every
hand pull), they had come to hear Mitch Laddie. The man from out Consett way
plays gigs in pubs, clubs, concert halls (Sage Gateshead) and on the blues
festival circuit. Laddie, five string bassist Rhian Wilkinson and drummer Matt
Connor make for the tightest of units rampaging across a blues rock landscape,
the big bonus being they avoid the mind-numbing, sledgehammer approach.

The third Darlington Jazz Festival runs over four days, at three venues,
wider in scope and ambition. The Forum Music Centre on Borough Road (the event’s
HQ in previous years) presents a workshop and a full day of music (twelve hours
worth!), the Head of Steam (Darlington
Railway Museum) on Station Road (a new venue) offers ten hours of jazz and the
Voodoo Café on Skinnergate hosts a late night session of danceable Latin
American sounds.

The first event takes place at
the Forum on Thursday evening (April 24). Trumpeter Matt Roberts will lead a workshop for all ages and abilities,
sectional tutors will be on hand and take note - the event is certain to be
over-subscribed, so be quick, contact details. The workshop fee is a
bargain £6.00., 5:30 pm start.

This great sextet has six of the North's finest jazz
musicians. Since their début performance in 2008, Alter Ego have entertained
audiences at many North East jazz venues and festivals. The group draw much of
their material from the rich catalogue of original compositions created by the
likes of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Hank Mobley and Miles Davis. The result
is a stylistically varied programme including Up-tempo Swing, Hard Bop, Funk
and Latin Jazz.

“The spirit of the Jazz Messengers is with the band from
first note to last.” - Lance Liddle, Bebop Spoken Here.Roly.

If Johnny Hodges had played tenor, tonewise, he may have resembled Urbanski particularly in the latter's opening, unaccompanied, introduction to Nature Boy. Paradoxically, when Urbanski did play alto in the second set he sounded nothing like Hodges!

Nature Boy was the only non-original composition, the rest were mainly from the pen of the leader who never fails to impress with his big saxophone sound and technique to match.

This is the Swiss trio’s second ECM album. It’s
a very modern European offering revolving not around virtuoso solos but a
collaboration of like minded musicians who have produced a piece of work which
may not have you jumping around on the kitchen table with excitement but
instead will provide a stimulating relaxing and peaceful experience. This is definitely more Swiss Roll than rock
and roll but sometimes it’s nice to have your cake and eat it.

So many review CDs come through the letterbox that I've had to replace the mat in the hall and the postman is complaining of a bad back so I hope those who have sent CDs for review will understand if they don't get reviewed immediately or even ever!

This disc is such a one that most undeservedly got shuffled back down the deck. Not any longer! It's a cracker!

Recorded live at Sage Gateshead on Day 2 of the GIJF - Listen here.
Interesting with one or two folks you may know.
Great selection of music not least Paul Edis' choice of a track by Vasilis Xenopoulos - surely one of the truly great underrated tenor players. "Vasy" is at The Bridge, Newcastle on Thursday April 24 and the following day at St Cuthbert's Centre Crook. Get your diary out now! Then go down to the bookies and put your house on it being the Gig of the Year but don't double it up with Sunderland avoiding relegation!Lance.

Good to see a group of young lads
(musicians?) checking out the Paul Edis Trio. The second set proved to be just
like the first…the best jazz piano trio you’ll hear west of NYC. Chatter from
the back of the room receded as the trio resumed with Our Love is Here to Stay (Edis recalling the lilting style of Erroll
Garner). Milestones/What is This Thing Called Love? heard
the trio playing to the highest standards. B
Minor Waltz won out over the distant chatter before Doxy took centre stage.

The Jazz Café had a fair smattering of punters in tonight. Some stayed, some left and there was much shifting around of seats before, eventually, we got our favourite pew 'twixt bar and piano.

In recent weeks, "The Caff" has seen no small percentage of the area's top pianomen in the spotlight. Collingwood, Gilligan, Glen, Harrison, Law and tonight Edis.

We are truly blessed in this neck of the woods to have so many magnificent manipulators of the well-tempered clavichord except this one tonight was a slightly ill-tempered Hyundai! If it was an Hyundai car it wouldn't have passed its MOT!

Friday, April 11, 2014

Quite a delightful and at times poignant drama by trumpet player and dramatist Ian Smith on Radio 4 this afternoon (available on BBC iplayer for 7 days)in which a lady reporter for Time Magazine interviews Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn during the course of the latter's last recording session.

Clarke Peters gives a convincing performance as the urbane, sophisticated Ellington fending questions from Ashleigh Naddad as interviewer Elaine Robillard. Don Gillet as Strayhorn also gives a realistic performance as a man philosophically viewing the cancer that is killing him even changing the title of his final piece to Blood Count.

Robillard tries to get Ellington to admit he stole some of Strayhorn's music but neither of the two men give direct answers and the listener is left with the impression that both needed each other.

Musical snatches can be heard including a complete version of Ellington's monologue - Pretty and the Wolf.

The latest in the Lit and Phil’s
monthly lunchtime concert series presented the Virtuoso Jazz Trio. The trio’s
performances are few and far between and this city centre date drew a large
audience keen to hear timeless material from the Great American Songbook. Three
Gershwin tunes to begin with: But Not For
Me, Somebody Loves Me and Lady Be
Good. Clarinet virtuoso George MacDonald took the first solo of the
afternoon, on the second number virtuoso guitarist James Birkett developed a
solo from a welter of chords and on a swift Lady
Be Good virtuoso bassist Tony Abell swung none stop.

The young guns were on target once again with their brand of jazz rock, funk, fusion call it what you will. The influences were many ranging from heavy metal to Herbie Hancock. This month's guest, Elliott Todd, first heard at a Jazz Café Jam, excelled on trumpet and flugel at times bringing to mind those days of yore when Miles dipped his toes into the muddied waters of rock and roll.

Keep an eye out for Elliott at a gig near you.

Tim, needless to say, led by example laying down some strong lines and soloing with much aplomb. Dominic hit the Hammond button and laid down the kind of groove you'd only expect to get from a fully grown B3.

On bass guitar, Martyn gave solid support and Paul Crown is surely one of the most underrated drummers around.

Maybe just another day at the office but, nonetheless, an enjoyable one.Lance.
PS: Good to see Chris Jelly digging the sounds..

Frisell, dressed in plaid shirt, slacks and sneakers
seemed relaxed as he came on stage likewise the other members of the trio Eivand Kang on Viola and Rudy Royston on
drums who were also dressed comfortably
What followed was pure unadulterated joy as the trio performed in a
merry go round of styles moving in and out of
folk, country, oriental, rock, classical and jazz idioms. Guitarist Frisell, shy and
retiring, didn’t do much chatting preferring instead to twiddle the various electronic effects
he had on stage but with the most magnificent range of sounds emanating from the
great man’s Telecaster who could complain? Kang and Royston blended in
effortlessly as the trio swirled in and out of the assorted genres
described. The set finished with not one
encore but two and the audience were able to leave the perfect Hall 2 happy,
joyful and enraptured.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

A recent leg
operation meant that the Gateshead Jazz Festival was out of reach but a nice
compensation was that a trip to the Cherry Tree just up the road was possible.
Lindsay Hannon and the band were in great form, both in seeming to be enjoying
themselves and also playing very well. The first song was I Can't Give You Anything But Love and James Harrison quickly
showed his intent by launching into a full-blooded solo demonstrating how his
playing continues to develop at a fast pace. What is great about Lindsay Hannon
and the band is that each of the songs, although mostly standards, has
individual touches added to it to give it something extra. Miss Otis Regrets was taken at a slow, soulful tempo full of
languid regret, while I Thought about You
had a moody double bass and voice intro which the drums and piano then took
into double time with Harrison seeming to go
into double, double time for his solo. Blues
in the Night had a saloon bar feel with touches of barrelhouse piano.

Yet another fine big band from The States led by vocalist and trombonist McGuinness. With remarkable restraint, McGuinness restricts himself to only two vocal features - What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life? and You Don't Know What Love is which makes one wonder what the lady's response was to the initial question!

Wednesday, April 09, 2014

Colin, our link to the Orient, sent me this photo from the 1926 Xmas edition of the Melody Maker of the Percy Bush Orchestra who were the first ever band to play at Newcastle's famed Oxford Galleries.

Colin also sent an entertaining cutting from the same magazine reporting a fight between two females in a London night club.

Lance.

PS: How ironic that the Newcastle City Council have approved an application to tear the building that housed the Oxford Galleries down and build student flats. on the site. Smith and Poulson ride again!

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Bebop Spoken Here -- Here, being the north-east of England -- centred in the blues heartland of Newcastle and reaching down to the Tees Delta and looking upwards to the Land of the Kilt.Not a very original title, I know; not even an accurate one as my taste, whilst centred around the music of Bird and Diz, extends in many directions and I listen to everything from King Oliver to Chick Corea and beyond. Not forgetting the Great American Songbook the contents of which has provided the inspiration for much great jazz and quality popular singing for round about a century.The idea of this blog is for you to share your thoughts and pass on your comments on discs, gigs, jazz - music in general. If you've been to a gig/concert or heard a CD that knocked you sideways please share your views with us. Tell us about your favourites, your memories, your dislikes.Lance (Who wishes it to be known that he is not responsible for postings other than his own and that he's not always responsible for them.)